Fitness - exercise routine

I've been trying to get in to an exercise routine the last couple of months. It started off as just trying to get in shape for the wedding and make sure I still fit in my bridesmaid dress (I got fitted for it a year ago when I first returned from living abroad and was nice and slim). But now that I have been sticking to my routine for a while, I really feel much better in myself and have loads more energy so am keen to stick to it and incorporate other exercises in to it.

When I first started I was just doing my own work-out in the gym and was finding it difficult to stay motivated, then I discovered spinning classes (mentioned in my earlier blog post here). Through this I realised how much more effort I put in when in a group than on my own, my competitive streak made me push myself harder to keep up with everyone else. So I then branched out to other classes as well. So here is my current weekly exercise routine:

Monday evening - 45 minute spinning
Tuesday evening - 1 hour body pump
Wednesday morning - 45 minute spinning
Thursday night - 1 hour body pump
Friday morning - 45 minute spinning.
Saturday - rest
Sunday - rest

Spinning is an excellent cardio work out whereas body pump is based around weights and resistance training. I like to balance these two as the cardio helps burn calories whereas body pump helps tone my muscles (any that I may have!). I think it's good to get a balance of the two in order to get the most out of your weekly routine. It's also really important to get at least one rest day a week for your body to recover, allowing your muscles to repair.

In order to keep things new and changing, I also bought myself a yoga mat to do some floor exercises at home. I know this may seem really depressing to most people but I was so excited to get this!!

I read recently (I think in Cosmo) that you burn nearly twice as many calories in your sleep if you do light exercise before bed than if you don't so my main reason for getting this was so that I could do some floor exercises at home before I went to bed. I'm also going to get some light hand-weights so that I can do some of the routines I learnt in body pump at home also.

So that's my routine! I try to keep changing it up every now and then so that my body doesn't get used to it and continues getting the most out of my exercises. Do you have a routine that you stick to? Or maybe you like to just do your own thing? All comments are welcome!